Improvement in water-wheels



NTTED STATES ATENT miren.,

MARTIN BELL, OF SABBATH BEST, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN WATER-WHEELS. l

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 52,259, dated JanuaryEO, 1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN BELL, of Sah bath Best, in the county ofBlair and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and ImprovedWater-Wheel; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and eXact description thereof, which will enable others skilledin the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure l is a side sectional view of my invention, taken in the line xx, Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a front sectional view of the same, taken in the liney y, Fig. 1.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

This invention consists in providing a waterwheel with moving or slidingbuckets, and partially encompassing the former with an apron, the partsbeing constructed and a-r ranged in such a manner that the buckets willeffectually prevent the water passing through the wheel without actingupon them, the buckets being, in one sense, like gates, and not allowingthe water to escape unless the wheel turns.`

A represents a casing in which the wheel works, the same being composedof two side pieces, a c, connected together by rods b and a framing,Dit, the inner surfaces of the side pieces having grooves made in themto receive the edges ofan apron, B, which extends around from the top ofthe casing to about onethird the height of the same at the rising sideof the wheel, as shown in Fig. l.

C represents the penstock, which is at the top of the casing A, and isprovided with a gate, D, hung on central journals, c, at its ends.

E represents the wheel-shaft, the bearings F of which are at the outersides of the casing A; and G is the wheel, composed of two heads, d d,on the shaft- E, with segmentplates e at their ends, the heads andplates forming a hollow cylinder, and all cast in one piece. The platese, of which there are four, are of equal dimensions, with a space, j',between them, through which the buckets H of the wheel work, the ends ofthe bucket passing through openings in the heads, and the bucketsconnected together in pairs by rods or bars h. Each rod or bar h isprovided with a lateral projecting arm, z', and these arms eX- tendthrough the openings in the head and have friction-rollers I upon them.(Shown more particularly in Fig. 2.

The side pieces, a a, of the casing A have circular openings, which arecovered by plates J, the journals of the wheel-shaft E passing centrallythrough said plates, and to the inner surface of each plate J there isattached a cam, K, at a point shown clearly in Fig. l1.

The buckets I-I, it will be seen from the above description, slide orwork in the wheel, and as the buckets are connected together in pairsone bucket will be drawn within the wheel as its fellow at the oppositeside of the wheel is moved out from it.

The buckets are moved out from the wheel just after passing the penstockC, and when fully out are quite close to the inner surface of the apronB, and prevent any water passing down between the segment-plates e ofthewheel and the apron B, except that which acts against the buckets. Inother words, the water can only pass through the wheel as the wheelturns. The water escapes from the wheel over the lower end of the apronB, the free or unobstructed escape of the water being allowed and theobstruction of all back-water prevented by the drawing inward ofthebuckets just before they reach the lower end of the apron, at a point ofcourse coinciding with that in which the fellow buckets are forced out.The buckets are operated or have this sliding movement given them bymeans of the rollers I coming in contact with cams K K at the innersides of the plates J, as will be fully understood by referring toFig. 1. By this arrangement it will be seen that there is no waste ofwater except the small amount caused by leakage, and this isunappreciable, as all the water acts upon the wheel in passing throughit, the water passing through the wheel only as the wheel turns.

This wheel will work well under any ordinary head, and will be lessaffected by backwater than the generality of wheels in use, and isdesigned to be of small size and to rotate rapidly, therefore requiringbut little gearing to get up speed for the machinery to be driven whencompared with overshot wheels, can all I ranged or connected in pairs,so as to move or be made of iron, and is not liable to be affected byice; and it may be used with it draft-tube like the French Jonval Wheel,it desired.

By altering the construction the same principle can be easily applied to:t Wheel with an upright shaft.

Having thus described my invention, Iclaim as new and desire to. secureby Letters Patent- A water-wheel provided with buckets arslide in adirection transverse With the Wheelsliztft, in combination withfriction-rollers and cams, or their equivalents, for operating orsliding the buckets, and an apron which partially encompasses the wheel,substantially as set forth.

MARTIN BELL. Witnesses:

EDWARD BELI, S. J. TAYLOR.

